Metric for when it's time to move on

It was raining so I didn't want to get underneath, but couple more pics. Seems hard to believe that this is >$6k in damage.

I was rear ended in my accord last year and the damage ended up being around that with no structural damage. The issue was that the bumper damaged the paint on the rear quarter a bit, so it turned into a bigger painting job, and all of a sudden it was that much. And the body shops are swamped too, so they can charge what they want.
 
Id also be thinking different in a rust vs none
So I've already patched one rust home and identified that I need to wire wheel a good portion of the floorboards for rust that is breaking out and spreading. Fluid Film did not do much for me there... high wash areas are now losing paint from water splash. I think I need to look into how to remove the rockers as it's starting to rust up and down the main seam that runs the length of the car there, along with behind the wheels.

As to what is next, I know it's struts, motor mounts and backing plates. That's at least another $2k. Not much else that could go wrong after that? HVAC? clutch? Getting hit by someone else? Probably exhaust if I had to guess, that system is looking old, and with the failing motor mounts who knows what is getting tweaked.

That is easily beyond $6k
Just seems high. I don't care too much about making it nice (you should see my daily) but I'm not sure what it'd take to get the condensor and radiator back where they belong. I guess it'd be nice if the headlights line up and the fascia doesn't look too bad either.
 
Looks like insurance would give you about $6,500. That plus a $4,500 tax credit for a Prius Prime which are running about $29k right now, would mean you've got a new 300k mile car for $18k. 55 mpg when it's out of battery, but can do a 25 mile charge.
 
Looks like insurance would give you about $6,500. That plus a $4,500 tax credit for a Prius Prime which are running about $29k right now, would mean you've got a new 300k mile car for $18k. 55 mpg when it's out of battery, but can do a 25 mile charge.
This sounds like a good plan to me, gas will get cheaper eventually, but it will also get expensive again too.
 
Would you believe that about a year ago I was seriously thinking about just that? Lather rinse repeat. Get the Prime, which doesn't do much of anything "great" for me, but only because for $20k or less I'd get another 10yr/200k vehicle. Which is what this Camry had been: drive for 10, move on.

If only I had listened to my gut instead of being rational!
 
If you have full coverage on the car, take the money and run.
Judging by the photos, that car will qualify as a total.
I'd recommend banking any proceeds that you can get out of the 2011, and ride the other beater until the market settles.
If you don't have full coverage on it, it's not worth putting 6K into. Unless you can get a parts car and make it roadworthy yourself, I don't see where it is financially prudent to repair it.
 
Would you believe that about a year ago I was seriously thinking about just that? Lather rinse repeat. Get the Prime, which doesn't do much of anything "great" for me, but only because for $20k or less I'd get another 10yr/200k vehicle. Which is what this Camry had been: drive for 10, move on.

If only I had listened to my gut instead of being rational!
Well, while the prices have gone up, that also means the value of your car has also gone up so it somewhat cancels out.
 
I think we need an @atikovi opinion.
That will be interesting info.

Working on filing the claim and moving on though.

Well, while the prices have gone up, that also means the value of your car has also gone up so it somewhat cancels out.
True.

I always go away, forgetting about my thoughts about the Prius, then look it up and am reminded that I nope'd this a while ago. It's a great solution--on paper. But it's like they were deliberate in being annoying (polarizing looks and pathetic performance). My wife was open to getting one but I thought it not a great car and thought it worth the money to get the Camry Hybrid instead. Despite the extra cost. I think she's been happy with it (outside of the missing clutch pedal).
 
That car is worth $6300 as an insurance claim in what world??!!?

nada.jpg
 
Take the money and run, but you will pay it back in your future insurance cost due to accident history. Since you already filed a claim there is no going back anyways, just buy a new hybrid or econobox.
 
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Be glad you weren't in the path between the car and the rock! I was going to say fix it and keep going, but with the rock damage, I'd take the money and run.
 
Continues to be fun. Insurance company went off photos and lowballed it, and seems content to ignore the written estimate (from the body shop). So they seem content to have the shop move forward and apply for a supplemental. Since they're pretty busy this may drag out I'm thinking. I let the shop know to move forward and we'll see.

Good thing I have a spare car. Although when I pulled out a strut last weekend (so I could do some painting) I was asking myself, what do I do if I brick this one too?
 
That car is worth $6300 as an insurance claim in what world??!!?
Agreed.... 'clean retail' is showing $ 6300, but in my book, the substantial 'rust cancer' the op described makes that car worthless all by itself, not even factoring in the massively overall 'tired' mechanical condition also previously described.
 
If you have full coverage on the car, take the money and run.
Judging by the photos, that car will qualify as a total.
I'd recommend banking any proceeds that you can get out of the 2011, and ride the other beater until the market settles.
If you don't have full coverage on it, it's not worth putting 6K into. Unless you can get a parts car and make it roadworthy yourself, I don't see where it is financially prudent to repair it.
it may be a LONG wait for the market to 'settle', moreover, the real rate of inflation in the USA is in the 15 - 20% annually range and increasing, so 'banking' insurance proceeds until better times will drastically erode your future buying power.
 
So for a long time people would refuse to put into a car a repair that was equal to the value of the car. One could argue that it should have been the cost of replacing the car, but whatever: for most, once repair cost = car value -> time to move on.

I took a quick look at trade-in and my '11 Camry is $2,400 give or take in fair condition. I think I could hit that this year in work. But some of that is deferred maintenance. Should I count that as part of this year's cost? Motor mounts, struts, tires, rear brakes (to R&R the dust shields and parking cables is a grand alone and not something I can do). Tires and struts are normal wear items I know, but I managed to time it all to be worn out at the same time, which was part of my plan, but my plan didn't include a pandemic and its impact on the car supply.

I realize dropping 2-3 grand into this car and getting another year is economically sound... I just need to be reminded. :)


I'm still driving my 2003 Jaguar X-Type. It's been worth repairing, and at 225K miles, is still running...

I'd simply say that quality vehicles are financially worth keeping until they rust away or a crash damages them severely. As always, I like the "cost per mile" metric.

And with that in mind, sometimes a new vehicle may not cost significantly more "per mile" than an older vehicle. Often only 5c to 8c per mile more. Remember, the cost of a vehicle (even in today's absurd market) is only a fraction of the lifetime operational costs. Fuel is likely to be the single largest expense, followed by insurance and maintenance. But what do I know, this is BITOG where people think the purchase price of a vehicle is most important.

A $25-30K Accord, 30mpg, 250,000 miles, $41,500 worth of fuel at $5/gal. $25,000 worth of insurance over 12-15 years. And thousands in MX. Cost per mile matters!
 
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